Vorta — The Complete Guide: BorgBackup with a Graphical Interface on Mac and Linux
Vorta is a graphical interface for BorgBackup on macOS and Linux. You set up a profile with source folders, a destination and a schedule, and Vorta runs encrypted, compressed, deduplicated backups — to a local drive, your own server or a Borg hosting service. All the power of Borg, with no scripts to write.
Vorta
BorgBase and contributors
A simple graphical front end for BorgBackup on macOS and Linux: profiles, scheduling and archive browsing for file restore.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- Profiles — several separate backup setups, for example projects and personal documents.
- Scheduling — automatic backups at fixed intervals in the background.
- Archive view — every backup in one place, with date and size.
- Selective restore — pull a single file or folder out of an old backup.
- Flexible destinations — a USB disk, a NAS or a server reached over SSH.
Who it suits
An engineer working on a Mac or Linux who wants dependable backups of work folders. Vorta is free under the GPL, including commercial use; the developer’s BorgBase storage service is paid but entirely optional. Limitation: Borg is not fully supported on Windows, so Vorta is mainly for macOS and Linux. Keep the repository passphrase somewhere safe.
Related tools
For the engine itself on the command line — BorgBackup. For a graphical alternative that also runs on Windows — Kopia. For a web interface on top of restic — Backrest.
BorgBackup
The Borg Collective
Command-line backup with deduplication, compression and encryption, to a local disk or a server over SSH.
Get it from the vendor
Kopia
Kopia project
Encrypted incremental backup with a GUI and scheduling — to local disks or the cloud storage of your choice.
Get it from the vendor
Backrest
Gareth George and contributors
A web interface and scheduler on top of restic: create repositories, browse snapshots and restore files without the command line.
Get it from the vendor
Déjà Dup
GNOME (Michael Terry)
Simple, encrypted, scheduled personal backup on the GNOME desktop, to a disk, a network server or Google Drive.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
The most convenient way to use BorgBackup on a desktop: install it, set up one profile and forget about it — until the day you need to restore.